


No Words Needed

by Kandyrew



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:35:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23620912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kandyrew/pseuds/Kandyrew
Summary: Seteth had felt this way before about someone, though it had been a very long time ago. Never did he think he would ever be able to feel this way about someone again. Not that he swore off all and any potential relationships, but he just… never felt a connection with anyone again... until now.A short one shot centered around Seteth's feelings about Byleth. Tenderness ensues
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Seteth
Comments: 16
Kudos: 67





	No Words Needed

**Author's Note:**

> Hoo boy this is making me anxious to post lmao  
> Hi, this is the first time I've written in like a billion years so please go easy on any critiques (but I'm happy to receive any advice)! 
> 
> This quarantine is so long I'm starting to write again, lord help us  
> happy easter btw

It had started small, him inviting her out to tea to thank her, once again, for rescuing Flayn. Flayn had since become a student under Byleth, and his daughter had come to him with such joy of what she as learning and the friends she was making in class. (While it worried him endlessly of her being taught to use not only holy magic but other weapons, he knew she was in good hands. The professor seemed to be able to use most anything with competence.) 

However, when they sat at the tea table as friends and not merely colleagues, it was the subtlety of her small expressions when she had them, her soft responses to anything he had to say. They were such small things that before he had easily overlooked in his distrust of her. Her silence then had been disconcerting since he couldn’t read her. Now it was apparent that while she was quiet, it was a polite and thoughtful sort of quiet. 

It was such a contrast to what he had known of her in battle and when speaking of important business. In battle, she was authoritative and fierce, making quick decisions and leading her students and allies well—thus far all of her students have remained unharmed beyond scraps and bruises, all of which were quickly healed by white magic. When speaking of business, she spoke honestly and bluntly, laying down what she felt was correct. He had witnessed this often when speaking of things they disagreed on, she would not budge on her judgement if she felt it the best course of action. 

Beyond that, she was a truly exceptional professor and such an asset to the church. It was not uncommon for him to be able to join her during service, as she was there every Sunday, and that piety from someone who had been excluded from any and all church services all her life struck him as remarkable. Her father still seemed to dislike the church after all and he would have expected her to do the same. When she wasn’t doing things with the church or school, he could usually find her with her father, fishing on the pier. He was usually loathe to pull her away from that when Seteth wanted or needed her (not just because Jeralt still eyed him with distrust) since she always looked so content to be doing that. He also routinely found her conversing and spending time with her students outside of a school setting. He knew they all liked her quite a bit and she was quite popular, being found having lunch or dinner with her students often. 

So it didn’t surprise him when on the day of the ball, she was constantly being pulled into the dancefloor by someone, and while she kept her normal neutral expression, there was small uptick of the corners of her lips and her eyes seemed to sparkle. She was having fun, after all. He had wanted to ask her for a dance but could not seem to get to her quick enough. And it seemed he wouldn’t get one, much to his disappointment, when he saw her sneaking out of the ballroom to go outside. 

He followed her, hoping to at least chat, when she came upon her entering the goddess tower. There she had sat on one of the stone walls, staring contently up at the stars in the sky. He had to take a moment, admiring her. The light from the moon lit up her face and hair, making her look like she was glowing. Her gown flowing around her legs freely, and fell around her so gracefully... She looked like a painting and he was taken aback by how beautiful she really was. After staring for a moment, admiring her, he finally came up and took a seat near her on the stone wall. 

She turned to him, the small uptick of smile returning to her face, lighting up her features. He returned it with a small smile of his own. 

“Escaping, are we?” He asked, turning his eyes up to the sky when she herself did. “I know you must be tired.” 

She hummed at that softly, replying in that soft, quiet voice of hers. “I was just a little tired.” 

And as it usually happened, they both fell into a comfortable silence. And first, when he had first asked her to take tea with him, her silence had unsettled him as he had thought that he was either boring her or she did not want to spend that time with him. She was content just listening to him it seemed, as she started asking him out to tea herself after that. They generally had tea together at least once a week, and always they found themselves in this silence, or Seteth was the one leading the conversation, usually speaking of church matters or Flayn. 

“Do you know what my children said to me about this tower?” she asked him suddenly, and he was startled to see her looking him dead in the eyes when he turned to her. 

“Ah, I assume the rumor about…” he felt himself fluster for a second, “about a man and woman wishing for love in the goddess tower?” 

She nodded, saying, “yes, that, but also about just… wishing for something you want from the goddess. Do you think it is true?” 

He was thoughtful for a second, thinking over the question. The implication that the goddess would grant a wish here seemed a little silly, after all it was children who made the rumor in the first place, especially in that if it was the goddess’s will, it would happen regardless of the wish being spoken here or not. 

“I believe the goddess would grant the prayer should it be her will, whether it be spoken here or elsewhere.” She hummed softly at that. “Were you wanting to wish for something, professor?” 

“I was, actually. My children were saying how, in five years, we should all reunite here, regardless of where we are in the world.”

“Ah, for the celebration. And you would like to pray for that to be true?” 

She nodded, sighing softly. “Though I hope in five years I will still be teaching here and won’t need to travel back,” she said pleasantly. “I just hope that all my students return so I can see them again.” 

He gazed at her as she looked up at the sky. She cared so deeply for the students here, anyone who came into contact with her knew this, but to hear himself just how deep her fondness went for being a professor and teaching children made him soft. 

“Do you want to pray together that you’ll be able to meet everyone again in five years?” he asked her, and felt his heart tighten as she looked at him with such excitement. She nodded, sitting closer to him. 

“Yes, please,” she said, reaching her hands out to him. He took them in his own, rubbing his thumbs along the tops of her hands before he thought better of it. He closed their hands together. 

“Holy goddess, hear our prayer,” he started, tightening his hold on her as he bowed his head. “Please allow there to be an opportunity in the future for everyone in Byleth’s class to return for the celebration to see her, and please allow her to remain here at the monastery to teach for many more years to come. Please bless and protect the students and faculty here that they remain in high health—” he went off on a tangent, asking for protection and health and all things he normally prayed for before he went to bed at night. He finished with amen, Byleth following with a soft amen herself. He felt a little embarrassed at having gotten distracted in his prayer, but when he opened his eyes she looked just as happy as she did before. 

Her hands remained in his, and she seemed content to keep it that way. Seteth himself was not planning to let her go. “Thank you, Seteth,” she said. Her smile was so soft and pure, that she was so happy to have had him pray with her, he couldn’t help himself, he had to ask her before the night was over. 

“Professor… I know you must still be tired, but...” He stood, his hands still holding hers, bowing somewhat. “May I have a dance?” 

She gapped at him somewhat, surprised, but she stood with a soft bow herself. “I would love to.” He pulled her to him gently, removing one of his hands to be placed at her back, right beneath her shoulder as she placed hers on his shoulder. Their other hands remained together as he lead her off on a dance. 

There wasn’t any music, but Seteth kept count with the beating of his heart, which seemed to be pulsing so deeply it almost hurt. Ah, he had felt this way before, once. As they spun and moved together to a song only they could hear, he became completely aware of what was going on. 

Seteth had felt this way before about someone, though it had been a very long time ago. Never did he think he would ever be able to feel this way about someone again. Not that he swore off all and any potential relationships, but he just… never felt a connection with anyone again. 

He was in love with Byleth. He probably had been for a while, and he just hadn’t realized that his quickened pace when they met eyes out during the day or the excitement he got when he received her invitation for tea meant he loved her.

But here, with her hand in his, looking positively radiant in her simple navy gown and pulled back hair, her eyes which seemed to full of light tonight, and the small smile that had stayed on her face for the entire evening, it was so clear that his heart beat for her now. Never did he think he would be lucky enough to love again. 

“Byleth,” he breathed, pulling her closer to him as his pace slowed to gentle rocking, looking into her eyes. Her cheeks flushed a little at the closeness between them as she gazed up at him. He released her hand to cup under her chin as he bent forward, pressing their lips together. 

And for a moment, time stopped. Nothing moved, nothing made a sound, it was just the feeling of her lips pressed against his, his pulse beating rapidly in his neck. And then she kissed back, bringing her arms around his neck. And they stayed like that, locked together for what felt like forever. And sweet goddess, Seteth knows without a doubt that he would gleefully stay there kissing her forever if he could. But they both needed air, so they pulled away, just enough to breathe. They gazed at one another, and he knew fully that in her eyes was the same love that she found in his. 

His hand cupped her cheek as he pressed his forehead into hers, one of her hands gently threading into his hair. He stroked her cheek with his thumb as they began to rock slowly again, content just to be together like this, no words needed between them.


End file.
